


when i wake up, i’m afraid (of my mind)

by xfrosted



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Nightmares, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-09-28
Packaged: 2020-10-29 15:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20799188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xfrosted/pseuds/xfrosted
Summary: Klaus nodded, leaning in closer to Five saying, "It's okay, Five. I need you to wake up for me."Five breathing became even more rapid before he gasped and jolted up."NO!" Five screamed.-Five has a nightmare, Klaus helps him.





	when i wake up, i’m afraid (of my mind)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first fanfic on here! I’m super happy to say that it won’t be my last! Please leave kudos and a comment<3

Five hated the heat. He hated the burn of it on his skin and the way it caused his eyes to dry. He hated the feeling of having smoke trapped in his lungs only for him to cough it up later on for hours. He hated the ash and the way it collected in his hair and on his eyelashes.

Most of all, Five hated the smell. The smell of the rotting corpses and the smell of rotting food. It was the smell that never left him. Surrounding him everywhere he went; threatening to choke him from the inside out and leave him a crumpled heap on the ground.

That's why, before he even knew where he was, Five recognized the smell and smoldering heat that trapped him. He breathing picked up.

Five opened his eyes to hell. His vision was attacked by various shades of red, black, and orange. Along with the disgusting brown of the rubble that followed him everywhere. 

Five's breath stuttered in his chest as his nostrils stung from the foul smell of bodies.

Dead, rotting bodies, his mind helpfully provided.

"No," Five gasped.

His eyes burned and his throat felt uncomfortably tight. This isn't right. He'd been at home, hadn't he? He had just gotten back from a late night coffee run a Griddy's. 

But that wasn't what happened, was it? Because he was back here. Back in this hell that he promised he'd never return to. He couldn't be back here, he couldn't-

Tears welled up in his eyes and a choked sob escaped Five's throat. He truly was here again. In a dead world with surrounded by dead people.

Unable to support his weight any longer, Five's legs buckled and he fell to the ground. Another sob wracked his small frame and he knelt down until his forehead made contact with the uneven ground. 

"No - please, no. I-I can't do this again, please!" Five sobbed desperately.

He doesn't want to die.

But God knows he doesn't want to live here, in this wasteland.

Five sucked in sharp gasps of air only to be cut off by choking on the thick smoke that hung low in the air like a heavy blanket.

He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think. Five's throat was closing up and he couldn't breathe-

Five screamed.

~

Klaus couldn't sleep. He never could, really. You know, with the whole "I-see-dead-people" thing, it really takes a toll on a person. Especially Klaus, who would like to catch some shut-eye without being so rudely interrupted by said ghosts. 

He was currently lounging on the couch like some lazy cat chatting with his favorite ghostly brother. 

Klaus looked up slowly at his brother.

"I'm bored, Benny," He whined.

Ben gave him an exasperated look, which, okay, he understands. There's not much for his dead brother to do with him, after all. Klaus sighed over-dramatically.

"Just try to sleep, Klaus," Ben tried to coax his brother into sleeping awhile ago, only to get shut down. Klaus shook his head.

"Can't, I'm not tired anyways. I promise," Klaus stated.

"You should still sleep anyways," Ben muttered.

Klaus rolled his eyes before getting up and heading to the kitchen for a snack. 

As soon as Klaus was about to dive into some well-deserved chocolate cake - to which Ben muttered something along the lines of "if you get sick because of this, don't say I tried to warn you" and then was promptly ignored by Klaus - he was stopped a fear-filled scream.

A scream Klaus has never heard before. A scream that was two stories up from his current position and still seemed to echo throughout the entire house.

Klaus' eyes darted to Ben's. They both shared a brief look before another scream shook the house and they took off running. 

They both ran up the two flights of stairs and stopped in the corridor. Right before Five's door.  
Klaus heard footsteps off behind him and looked to see the rest of his siblings sprinting up the stairs. 

They all stopped next to Klaus and exchanged worries glances with each other.

Another scream tore through the tense silence and the siblings lunge into action, barging into Five's room with purpose, expecting to see someone hurting their brother. And hell if they let that happen.

But there was no one. No one except Five, himself, thrashing on his bed with tears streaming down his face, whimpering softly. 

Klaus, having recognized what was happening, spurred into action while his siblings stood shocked at the sight before them.

Klaus - and Ben - ran to Five's side. The boy was quietly sobbing and whispering out soft "No"'s and "Not again"'s. 

Klaus spared a worried glance with Ben before looking back at Five, who was now heaving gasps and shaking in his sleep.

He carefully reached a hand out to touch his brothers shoulder, shaking him softly.

"Hey, Five wake up. It's okay, Five," Klaus said softly.

"P-Please, I can't do this, not again," Five whimpered, still completely dead to the real world, trapped by his nightmare.

"Klaus," Ben called, "Keep trying to wake him up, but don't do it harshly, we don't know how he'll react."

Klaus nodded, leaning in closer to Five saying, "It's okay, Five. I need you to wake up for me."

Five breathing became even more rapid before he gasped and jolted up.

"NO!" Five screamed.

"Hey, hey it's okay, Five, breathe. It's okay, you here at the Academy with me. With Klaus," Klaus soothed, reaching out a hand to rub comforting circles on his brother's back before Five jerked away violently.

That's when Klaus met Five's eyes. They were blank, but terrified at the same time, brimming with tears. Klaus knew that stare, famously dubbed the "thousand-yard stare".

Five was hyperventilating, his breath coming so quickly Klaus couldn't help but wonder how he hadn't passed out yet.

"It's okay, Five. Everything is fine, but I need you to breathe with me," Klaus coached Five into breathing a little slower, enough to reassure Klaus that he wouldn't pass out on the spot, and he watched as recognition slowly seeped into his brother's eyes.

"K-Klaus?" Five croaked, and fuck, he was so small, Klaus barely resisted to urge to cry himself.

"Yeah buddy, it's me." Klaus assured. He watched as relief flooded through Five's body.

"Ask him if you can hug him," Ben helpfully provided.

"Can-can I hug you?" Klaus repeated.

To his surprise, Five lunged at him, curling into Klaus as much a humanly possible, and sobbed.

"Shh, it's okay, I've got you, you're alright, Five. We all are," Klaus rubbed comforting circles on the smaller sibling's back whispering reassurances in his ear.

Five buried his face into his brother's neck, completely breaking down because of a nightmare. It was weak. He was an adult for god's sake, he shouldn't be in his brother's arms crying like a toddler, but he was and there was nothing he could do about it.

So Five held on tighter and wept some more.

Klaus also tightened his hold on his very small brother and lightly shooed his siblings away. They left, albeit reluctantly, and he started moving to make himself comfortable on Five's bed but stopped when Five's small, clammy hand grasped his wrist.

"Please d-don't leave me. Not again," The boy pleaded, and Klaus felt something in him break.

"I'm not leaving shorty, just getting comfortable."

He didn't move until Five nodded hesitantly and released the death grip he had on Klaus' wrist. 

When they were both laying down in Five's bed, Klaus asked, "Want to tell me about your nightmare, short-stack?"

Five sucked in a shuddering breath and nodded.

"It - I was back there again - in the Apocalypse. I was alone again," his voice cracked on 'again' but Klaus didn't say anything. Instead, motioning for his brother to continue.

"A-And I saw you all - dead," He admitted quietly.

Without saying anything, Klaus gently pulled Five closer to him, pressing his brothers face in the crook of his neck.

He felt Five melt against him as he carded his fingers through his little brother's hair. 

"I've got you, Five. You'll never go back there again, okay?"

Klaus felt Five nod against his neck.

"Okay, go to sleep. I'll be here if anything happens, I promise," Klaus coaxed.

Soon, he felt Five's breathing even out as he entered sleep, his face still pressed into Klaus' neck. He still ran his fingers through Five's hair as comfort though, reminding him he'll never be alone.

Klaus soon fell into sleep himself and if the Hargreeve siblings came to check on them, then that was their secret to keep.


End file.
